Monday, March 23, 2009

Kasoori Gobi -- with roasted cauliflower

I have become some kind of a social recluse recently, if I am not I certainly want to become one.

With a whole week of working outside the home, and then again inside the home followed with two kids and their individual demands I totally fizzle out like a damp cracker by Friday evening. All I think would love to do come Friday is pass out on the sofa with a book in hand while the kids play in the background and hubby makes warm ginger tea and fries pakodas.

The Phamily is however NOT the background kind and no one fries any pakodas. We have boiled Maggi for dinner instead and relax amidst each other's chaotic company.

I look forward to weekend mornings, hot chai with Marie biscuits, leisurely breakfast cooked by D, cooking and clicking for the blog, massaging the baby in the sun lit patch of our family room, bathing her with Big Sis S helping out and then resting down for a afternoon nap with the two of them. I see myself not wanting to compromise or hurry on the above tasks for just one more get together and turn down dinner invitations saying it is too cold to take out the baby.

On retrospect hosting a luncheon or dinner does not excite me either. The vision of cooking for all those who come by and then cleaning up trails of disaster does not appeal to me any longer. This is a far cry from my yester-years when I would go all lengths to straighten up the closet and cook excitedly to entertain. I do not aspire to be the hostess with the orderly medicine cabinet and finger-licking rogan josh any more.

Do virtual social networks make you a recluse in real life ? With smaller families and fast paced weeks, time spent with one's family becomes limited. So while you can talk, discuss, vent , bitch and have your egos fed, all in your PJ's with a click of a mouse why would you take the trouble to don a Kanjeevaram and spend a precious Saturday evening with well known strangers ? (Close real life friends are not considered in this scenario and I agree that without seeing a couple of them every now & then, life would be difficult, at least mine would)

So what did you do this weekend ?

Coming back to the Gobi, my MIL makes a roast cauliflower and then my Ma makes a cauliflower roast. The two are very different and in fact my MIL's is not even roasted. When I last invited some people, I wanted to do a Cauliflower, and chose my Ma-in-law's way. I also chanced upon Indira's Kasoori Methi Gobi at the same time. Kasoori Methi would add a nice flavor to Ma-in-laws recipe I thought and so this dish was made. Kasoori Gobi is not a new dish but this is my version of Kasoori Gobi or maybe Cauliflower roast with Kasoori Methi.

This is a delicious preparation with the cauliflower holding its own while it is submerged in the sweet and salty spiciness of the almost dry gravy. Kasoori Methi or sun-dried fenugreek leaves add a pleasant robust flavor to this dish.

Chop 1 small cauliflower into medium sized florets. Don't chop too small, or do not remove the stalks completely

Drizzle a little olive oil, sprinkle some sea salt(ordinary salt will do) and red chilli pepper and then bake the florets for 25-30 minutes at about 350F (this is my counter top toaster oven settings). The cauliflowers should be slightly roasted at the end of this process

Heat Oil in a deep bottomed pan or Kadhai

Fry 1 & 1/2 medium sized onion chopped, 3-4 green chillies slit, 1 fat clove of garlic chopped, 1" of ginger peeled and chopped till the onion turns pink and translucent. Note: I go low on garlic and the garlic I use have really fat cloves, you can use about 2-3 cloves if you want

Add 1 large chopped tomato and fry for couple more minutes till the tomato is soft

Cool the above mixture and grind to a paste. This is the onion+ginger+garlic+tomato paste

Temper the same oil(you might need to add a little more) with 1 Bay Leaf/Tej patta,2" stick of cinnamon/darchini and 4 green cardamom/elaichi

Add the onion+ginger+garlic+tomato paste and fry for a minute with 1/4 tsp of sugar(sugar is optional)

Cook till the cauliflower is done and the water has almost dried up. During this step stir the cauliflower in between and be careful so that the cauliflower is not over done. The way I like it there is very little gravy, you can adjust to your liking

Add 1/2 tsp of amchur powder, a fistful of soaked raisins and mix well

36 comments:

I can totally relate to that. It is hard work keeping up friendships. You are right, the thought of meeting up friends and cooking up a storm does not seem exciting as did a few years ago when the kids were not around. We still do a fair bit of socializing and sometimes I miss not doing more but it certainly has come down what with the kids classes and what not.

Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that is accepted without a murmur. Love this dry version.

I am glad to know that i am not the only one who does not look forward to weekends cooking for a houseful & then cleaning... to see all food mopped away (when i was hoping that there are leftovers).. & going to parties where everyone seem to be in sync other than me ( or are they pretending?)..even if i have to go somewhere.. i jsut feel like chickening out when i am getting dressed. i rather have boiled maggie at home& pretend it's not chaotic even if there are fights & noisy toys...Oh yeaH the marie biscuits!! my kids are hooked to it.. no cookies in my house:-)That gobi recipe is something i will try soon. never cooked roasting it, or even making that kinda tomato onion paste. but i do kasuri methi to gobi & love it.

Weekend is much precious time spent with my family. I don't even pick up my phone to call any of my friends and his friends.Like the roasting idea with kasoori.About ur previ post, I am in that group of ur neigh who don't eat idli/dosa outside. Hmm u ve a nice neighb! Biryani and Pattu, what else we need?

Hmm, looks good. I love all kinds of phoolkopi. Getting tired of my regular recipe and will try this hopefully this week. Maybe I should become your neighbour! You will gets load of praise for all your goodies ;-) Love to the little ones.

Every weekend is the same for me. Get up at 6am (yes, I am always the first one to wake up and in the shower!), make breakfast which is waffles and Bacon on Saturday, then eat lunch out and shop. Same again, pancakes and Hash browns on Sundays, make special lunch and do some gardening, watch movies and there goes the weekend. Arvind is on call 1 into 2, so every other day and weekend he is on call anyway. I am kind of a loner by nature, don't feel lonely when I am alone, quiet weekdays and weekends suits me fine! Blogging is pure fun, doesn't fill any emptiness or anything,but nice to talk for a while with people "I know" and then go back to my quiet place!:D

We are still in the vagabond phase ... so weekends are spent roaming/driving around aimlessly, squeezing in some time for grocery shopping .. sometimes driving far, far away from the city ... not to mention trying out any new place & old for eats. :-)Kasoori Gobi ta try korbo .. khub bhalo dekhacche. :-)

with a job, family and two little kids ..no wonder you feel that way. Congrats on the new baby.I just found out ..I ddnt know, must be awesome

the fact that you are cooking is kudos worthy enough:)

I dont have kids yet but working, studying, blogging and other social commitments tire the heck out of me.Wonder how children will change that equation..and I dont get ginger tea or yummy pakodas either because Iam the one who cooks:)

Cheers to more family time and times with special friends:) that's all that matters anyways

Over the weekend, I was exploring a town near my hotel and then taking a taxi to a blogger friend's house to spend the night with her. :-)

Virtual social networks haven't made me a recluse. I'm fairly new at it, I have both real-life and blogger friends on it and haven't ditched real conversations and meetings with real-life friends for virtual ones - in fact, it's one more aspect to the real-life relationship.

I do spend more time on the Net than ever before but has blogging/social networking made me reluctant to get off the Net and go out with friends and family? No. Only The Spouse complains now and then ... :-)

I don't work in the strict sense of the term, but I do have a few commitments during the week.Recently, i was discussing with Dinesh if we were becoming too anti social! The truth is, the weekends are so precious. With the kids growing up, there is also their growing load of homeworks, which does take up quite a chunk of the weekend, after which the mind needs a serious break. I am not the hostess with the mostest, but we used to host get togethers quite often , but that has come down considerably.Blogging is a nice respite and like Asha, I too love to go back to my quiet corner, any day,and don't mind being alone.

Sandeepa, i have been following ur blog silently from quite a while ... I just love the writeups and the recipes that follow..

With this entry u have just penned down what was going thru my mind the entire weekend.. i am a mom to a 3 year old and also work full time and usually spend my weekends with "well known strangers" where the wives dont work and think i am the snob cos i cant "connect" with them...

oh sandeepa..do not feel guilty! i do not have kids..but when i work i am a social recluse too...actually i am also a recluse when i am on a diet..feel i have put on weight...or just like that! i am a lil moody...so i need my 'me' time on a regular basis...it is different for me now...coz i am sitting at home looking for a job and bored to death!

There is not much social activity as in US here but I manytimes have invited people for lunch or dinner and do not know many promise but don't turn up. As I too work the weekends are for he kids. I plan for one outing, time for homework for the kids and cook special dishes for the entire family. I reserve the Sunday afternoon for my baking experiments as the kids will be having a nap. Usually bake for thir snacks boxes for the entire week. This kasoori gobi is gorgeous and the idea of roasting them in the oven is really nice. Need to try this.

O h yes i totally understand the whole post. I remember when Shyama ws little we didn't had no life at all, everything revolved around her needs etc..........Now she is a teenager hurray there is more freedom for us.

IndoI have cut back seriously on socializing sine last year, one weekend a month is just about enough for me. Throw in S's class mates B'Day parties too and almost two weekends every month you are going out and meeting people.

But I certainly do not miss doing more :)

Soma"when i was hoping that there are leftovers"-- So true :D

ChamMost of my phone calls are when I drive back home, but weekends do have some calls, especially the ones back home

SJ

You want to try out a new thing when you have such a busy life !!! Kudos to you. Shall mail you a salmon kalia recipe that I got off the net, haven't tried yet

Asha

Bow to thee. Here I crib because I have to get up at 5:30 on weekdays and so sleep in late on weekends. You are so disciplined to wake up the same time very day.You are right quiet weekends suit me too these days

TruptiThanks

Maninas:)

SharmilaEnjoy these days. We used to do that a lot too, just drive around on weekends and eat out. Ekhon ar hoy othe na, tar cheye mone hoy barite thaki :)

MeenalThanks :) No the hubby cooks usually weekend meal is his responsibility, but Friday everyone is tired out

SraYou are one social butterfly :) Whom did you meet in Goa, ahhh Aparna ?

Sunita

Anti social, the hubby was always one and now he is so glad that I am turning one too :)

Pim

It is not that I don't gel with these well known strangers. Some work, some don't but that is not a problem in the group that we mix. It is just that the whole task of getting ready, going there, doing some meaningless talk does not appeal to me always

Rajitha

I know the feeling, there are times when you just want to get invited or vice versa. When I was studying , as soon as the semester was over we would invite people or invite ourselves over

Good atleast you work 5 days a week:). I have chess classes on saturday's so has to get up and get ready, just rush to have some cereal and get out by 9.30, get back around 2pm, but the best part is SV cooks on saturday's, 3 dishes are mandatory depending on his mood and excitement one more dishes is added to the menu, eat lunch and relax, both boys help each other to do stuff around the house. evenings are really busy either go out with nish/weekend socialization once in 2-3 weeks go to edison for grocery shopping. sundays are lil relaxed as I getup late most of the time its brunch, cleanup cook, prep for the weekdays!!

I think both N and I are becoming more anti-social with age! N more than me. I would like to meet people at least once a month or so but N is quite happy without even that! These days, we try to fit in a kid related activity every other weekend. With a full time job, 2 kids, cooking, cleaning et al i can understand why you'd want the weekend to be less stressful.

Kasuri Gobi looks wonderful! These days, i seem to add kasuri methi in most curries! Love the flavor.

I'm a loner from the beginning,but I do look forward to my weekends, there was a time when I worked EVERY weekend at the hospital for 12 hr shifts....and missed out on so much! Now...I need to spend the time with the kids. I am not one for parties, and social events, they bore me...so what I do is i take some out for the kids each weekend for a few hours, and then, a few hours for myself and kartik. We do fun things and not worry about anyone else.....which to me is just fine!

Hi Sandeepa,I hop into ur blog every now and then coz I do love bong food.Loved the kasuri gobi and will try it this week,roasting in the oven sounds good.Well known strangers-u have coined a perfect phrase,its the same here in Adelaide,I know hoardes of them and its not worth wasting time and culinary effort on them,the close friends however are special and to be nurtured in all ways-after the family of course.

phulkopi and methi is a great combo..except the kasoori methi part, I do cauliflower roast same way you did...very delicious..have something for you in my blog..check here http://indranid.blogspot.com/2009/03/coconut-laddoo-and-shower-of-awards.html

Hi Sandeepa, it has been a long time since I visited your blog. I was googling for some recipe and then landed onto your site. Only then I realised that I have missed your earlier posts.It is quite refreshing to read your posts, you have this knack of putting things in a neat conscise way. Enjoyed it.

We have never been the "big togethers" kind but yes, cooking up a big spread for friends is something I enjoy but have been doing less of these days. We do meet friends more frequently but necessarily over food.We definitely enjoy relaxed weekends at home, anyday but I don't mind the Kanjeevaram outings once in a while. After all, they have to be aired! :)Last weekend was fun having Sra here.

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Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine